368, Lot: 404. Estimate $75. Sold for $60. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee. |
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Nero. AD 54-68. PB (18mm, 7.04 g). Laureate head right / Blank. Near VF.
This curious specimen does not appear to be related to the usual group of lead tesserae from the city of Rome that bear the image of Nero (cf. Rostowtzew 13-31). Unlike those cast pieces, the present example was struck on a square flan from a round die with a portrait resembling that used on the denarii of the emperor. Scattered other lead tesserae from the ancient world in similar fabric, but often of a style distinct from that of the official coinage.